Just who is Ukraine's opposition? (CS Monitor)

[pinto]

Just who is Ukraine's opposition?

Though Ukraine's opposition is united against President Yanukovych's government, they are far from monolithic. Who are the players, and how strong are the bonds forged in Kiev's protests?

By Anna Kordunsky, Staff writer / January 24, 2014

Ukraine braced for more days, if not weeks, of grim uncertainty on Thursday night, as the highly anticipated opposition-government negotiations failed to bring results.

Three main opposition factions insisted that they will continue to press President Victor Yanukovych on conditions of a joint ultimatum, which include demands for his resignation, snap elections, and the repeal of the new anti-protest legislation adopted last week. They’re also coordinating activities in Ukraine’s parliament (Rada), and appear jointly on stage to rally supporters.

“Three things unite us,” prominent opposition leader Vitali Klitschko told The Guardian recently. “The first is disagreement with the current economic situation; the second is that we see European integration as the only future for Ukraine, and the third is the struggle against the current authoritarian regime.”

Yet despite the outward insistence on unity, the opposition is comprised of several separate strands whose different leanings and platforms could strain today’s unity. Below is a brief summary and some potential fault lines.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Security-Watch/2014/0124/Just-who-is-Ukraine-s-opposition

[Jackpine Radical]

1. It's always easier to be unified when you have a common enemy.

The real challenge in any revolution is in settling the dust afterwards as the once-unified factions fight out the terms of the new regime.

[pinto]

2. Yeah, look at Syria or Egypt as an ongoing glaring example.

[Igel]

3. Indeed.

The one humorous part was that "nationalism" in the case of Svoboda may involve racism, but it also includes EU and NATO membership. Which is sort of funny for a purely nationalist movement. I mean, think about "American First" people insisting on being part of NAFTA if you want to ponder how glaring that bit of into is. (Only if you really lack any idea of the structure of that part of the American body politic does that seem reasonable.)

Perhaps "anti-Russian" is the best characterization of the "nationalism," with the rest of the racism that's present just being general background racism endemic to most of the area. We just notice the anti-Semitism because in the anti-Yanukovych speeches it pops up and grabs our attention, while Yanukovych and his allies/appointees get to sound reasoned and talk about fascists all the time.